Assure Her (Assured Distraction Book 1) (12 page)

“Hell yeah, isn’t that one of the fucking perks we were promised?” he responded.

Chandler shot a look at him before she ducked into the vehicle.
What the hell? Did I hear him correctly?
She wasn’t sure she was registering his comment. After the flirting, the personal attention he’d paid her, and the night they had spent together, he was going to replace her with a groupie just that fast?

Fist-bumping the rest of the guys in the car, KeeMac laughed and made comments about the waitress being hot, and assured them he planned to line-up several more ‘hotties’ for the evening, and encouraged the others to do the same since the bus wouldn’t be pulling out until the morning. They talked about the after party being held at a club downtown with the guys from Frission, and there would be several chances for engaging in ‘perks’ all evening.

Chandler kept her face blank during the entire ride, only Ryan seemed to give her much thought. He knew that look; he had seen it before when the guys dated girls while they were playing local clubs. Usually they were one-and-done girls, but when any of them kept one around for a while, it always ended with the girl getting hurt. KeeMac was notorious for it. Ryan had hoped their lead singer would do better by Chandler, but it looked like it was already off to a bad start.

Hoping to make Chandler understand what she was getting with KeeMac, Ryan commented, “Hey, remember that chick you snuck into the van with us, KeeMac? We were down playing that show at South Padre? Dude, that chick was so hot for all of us, we couldn’t get her out of the van for three nights.” He fist bumped each of the guys to the guffaws and vulgar comments about her smoking hot body and, her, uh, “multiple talents.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” said Carter. “KeeMac was going through hot chicks every time we stopped at a damn venue.” He directed the comment to Chandler not realizing this was exactly what she did not want to hear. The guys spent the rest of the ride back reminiscing about the escapades they had while playing Texas venues in their early days.

Nothing they had to say interested Chandler though. It all only served to make her feel sick at her stomach. By the time they reached the venue, she bolted from the car and sprinted inside to the restroom. She was thankful the guys couldn’t go in the women’s room because she emptied the contents of her stomach as soon as she entered the stall.

Despite her feeling horrible, their set on stage had been phenomenal that night. When AD left the stage, they filed past Frission preparing to go on. The headliner’s members commented to AD what a great job they did getting the audience fired up for their performance. Receiving praise from the Frission members only added to their euphoria the stage provided. AD went straight to the dressing rooms to rehydrate after sweating through their clothes onstage and clean up before the meet-and-greet.

Chandler was thankful she had a dressing room to herself, being the only female on the tour. She wanted to just go back to the bus but was required to go to the meet-and-greet, so she decided to wear one of the outfits Peri made her buy for them. She picked a short, skin-tight, rhinestone-studded leather skirt and a see-through top that definitely had an authentic rock star-look without looking slutty. She wouldn’t be mistaken for a groupie, that’s for sure. She put on the sparkly azure blue “fuck me” stilettos that Peri said were ‘a must-have’. The rhinestone bra Peri bought to go under the shirt did not disappoint in its intention either.

Chandler couldn’t believe she was going out in public looking like this. She certainly was not trying to compete with the groupies that mobbed the stage during their performances with hopes of getting backstage for the party. She paced the small dressing room trying to muster the courage to leave the room when Camille came in.

“I thought you might need a little help before the first big party but I can see you’ve already done an awesome job choosing something.” Camille looked her up and down, and started fooling with Chandler’s hair. “You are smoking hot, girl! And you definitely won’t be flying under the radar after tonight.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to make the after-party, just the meet-and-greet.”

“Why the hell not? You’ll get their attention the moment you walk in that door! Even the Frission guys are going to be fighting for a little time with you.”

“Not something I really want to do. Actually, I was thinking about getting a hotel room tonight so the guys could have the bus to themselves. I don’t want them to feel weird about bringing their guests home, and I can get a good night’s sleep and be back before we leave in the morning.”

“Chandler, first of all: you are part of this band. Don’t feel like being here is going to deem you a ‘cockblocker’. And second: what makes you think you’ll not be bringing someone of your own back, too?”

“Nope, not going to happen. I have higher standards than that.” Chandler’s face turned red just remembering what she had done last night on the bus. From the looks of how today turned out, she simply had been a warm-up act for KeeMac.
God, so this is what it feels like being played for a fool? It sucks. Lesson learned.

Cash knocked on the door and opened it. Looking Chandler over he said, “Great, you look perfect for the first meet-and-greet. We want the fans to see you’re part of this band in a big way. Twitter and Facebook have been blowing up with questions about Jacoby’s gorgeous replacement. After tonight, with the press in the room and the airtime you’ll be receiving, your look will definitely set you apart.”

“Is that what you want, considering I won’t be here all that long? I was hoping to just fade into the background, which is why I’ve tried to be low-key on stage.”

“Until he gets back with the band, you are a major player in AD. Your notoriety is good for the band, and we want to play up anything that gets them publicity at this point.” Cash was already heading out the door. “Go on into the big room at the end of the hall in a few minutes, smiling and looking happy to be there, please.” He gave Camille a parting glance letting her know it was her job to get her there looking perfect.

“OK, sweetie, time to put on your game face, and be ready for A-N-Y-THING!” Camille pulled out a tube of bright red lip-gloss touching up Chandler’s lips. “You are beautiful and talented, just remember that. Now let’s see some rock star attitude!” Chandler almost had to push her out the door.

The feeling creeping over Chandler was anything but rock star-like as she approached that room. She plastered on a fake smile, took a deep breath and walked through it feeling like the lamb being led to the slaughter.

Nothing could have prepared her for the next two hours of her life. The press hadn’t been allowed in yet but the groupies outnumbered the two band members at least three-to-one. Women, in various state of dress, or undress, as Chandler was more prone to think of them, were abundant. Two of the guys from Frission had women already between their legs rubbing down their crotches with the fabric stretched to capacity, and it was obvious to her where that would lead. Her own bandmates had two and three girls each hanging on them, wrapped around them or licking up their necks. Everyone that was, but Ryan, who sat in the corner with his Corona enjoying the view. She decided Krissy must be okay with look-but-don’t-touch. When he spotted Chandler, he wound his way over to her.

“Chandler, wow, you look amazing! You should rock this look onstage, too. It would amp up your fan base
fast
. You did make sure the press got some great shots of you before you came through the door, right?”

“Yes, I did. They took so many I couldn’t see for a full five minutes when I walked in here.” Pointing to her feet, she added, “So, these shoes are probably not going to happen onstage,” sticking her foot in the air in front of her. “Do you have any idea how much these are already hurting after less than fifteen minutes?”

He laughed at her. “Yeah, I can see that. Krissy loves those fuck-me heels. I’m a pretty big fan, too!” he confessed with a wiggle of his eyebrows, causing Chandler to laugh at him. Happy to be enjoying his antics, she finally felt comfortable enough to look around the room. “You want something to drink? They have anything you want.”

“You already know I’m not much of a drinker. Do they have wine?”

“No, afraid not. But they have bottles of that girly fizzy stuff in flavors. You might like one of those.” She decided to give it a try. Maybe a drink right now would help her relax.

He returned with an original flavored one. “Krissy likes these because they sorta taste like lemonade, so I thought you might.” He uncapped it for her and she took a little sip.

“Mmm, yeah. It’s really good and even better, it’s cold. Thanks! Maybe I should see if Cash could always have these for me to drink at these mixers since it sounds like we will be doing them often.” She took a long drink still thirsty from the stage and found her bottle empty before she knew it. “There’s not much in these bottles, is there?”

He gave her a little laugh, “Yeah, you might want to go slow on those. They do have liquor in them, and since you’re a light-weight they might go down easier than you want them to.” He handed her another open one.

Downing the second one a little slower, she was aware that the press had now been allowed in, and while the girls were still in clothes at least, the guys were a little more able to talk to the press. Some fans had won local radio contests and were escorted in now, and Chandler answered questions for them about being the new member of the band. They all seemed nice to her while she signed a few autographs. She smiled for some selfies with teens and a few men and enjoyed herself more than she anticipated.

The whole thing was over faster than she anticipated, and Frission decided it was time to take the party on the road to the club at a nearby hotel. Chandler noticed that one hot guy not part of the band had hung back when the others were escorted out. She wondered if maybe he was part of the road crew since no one made him leave with the rest of the guests. The groupies chosen to go over to the club were still hanging on the

band members, so she knew this would be her chance to go get her own room for the night.

The quiet guy made his way over and introduced himself as Patrick. “I was just wondering if you would like me to go with you to the club since it looks like your friends are all taking friends of their own.”

Chandler didn’t know how to respond to a perfect stranger. “Actually, I’m not going to the club. I’m just going to the hotel with them. Are you part of Frission’s team?”

“No, but I wanted to talk to you so I blended in when everyone else left.” He looked innocent enough to her. After all, the groupies did it all the time. “So, what if we just get one drink at the club, and then I’ll leave you alone if you want?”

“I guess that would be OK, but only one and then I’m leaving.” He gave her a big smile, took her hand, and led her out the door to the awaiting cars. The club wasn’t far away so Chandler didn’t have to make much small talk with Patrick on the way. She answered a few impersonal questions and asked a few of him.

The loud club met all of Chandler’s expectations. The members of both bands and their entourage were escorted to the VIP section as soon as they stepped out of the limos with fans screaming from behind the fences being guarded by security. Chandler and Patrick got a smaller table to themselves so they could talk if they wanted. He obviously was perfectly happy not having to compete with any attention she might get from any of the either bands’ members. She allowed her eyes to roam the room locating the AD members who were being served champagne. The only one looking in her direction was KeeMac. The two girls attached to him were draped over his body, running their hands up and down every part of him in ways that left her surprised that he managed to look anywhere else. She did not want to be witness to their form of seduction, and when she met his eyes staring back at her, she quickly turned back to Patrick.

“So, Patrick, do you get to hang with bands very often?” She wanted to appear interested in him so she leaned closer as she asked the question.

“Not too much, and call me Trick, please. Patrick is what my mother calls me.” He leaned in, taking her hand in his. With their faces so close together, he could’ve turned his comment into a kiss with little effort. “I work for an event staging company based here so I get backstage passes sometimes. That’s how I got back to the meet-and-greet tonight.”

“Trick, huh? That must be awesome to get to meet a lot of different bands that way. So, what do you do for fun here in Albuquerque when you’re not crashing band parties?” She downed the first glass of champagne and swiped another off the tray being carried through their section.

“Oh, you know. If I’m lucky, I get a beautiful woman to dance with me.” He smiled at her. “Are you ready to dance?”

“I love to dance, but I’m not sure out there on that packed floor is a good idea.” Truth be told, she’d never danced to the kind of club music they were playing and she knew she would make a fool of herself.

“It’ll be fine, come on.” He let her finish her full flute then he pulled her out of her chair, down the steps and into the middle of the sweaty mob of dancers. She was glad no one would be able to see her making a fool of herself. Trick was a good dancer and put his hands on her hips rolling her to mimic his movements. He spun her around and put his hand in the middle of her stomach pulling her as close to him as possible. She was aware of how intimate this must look but after all she had had to drink, she really didn’t care anymore. She was here to have fun like the rest of their party and decided to just go with it.

The music flowed from one song to the next so it seemingly never ended. Chandler, giddy from the drinks and the heat, found herself pushed closer to Trick by the crowd on the dance floor. He didn’t seem to mind that their hot, sweaty bodies were pressed so tightly together.

He leaned in from behind her and spoke directly in her ear. “For someone who didn’t want to be out here, looks like you are enjoying it.” With one hand on her abdomen and the other on her hip, he cradled his erection against her ass. This wasn’t something she was planning on and didn’t know how to respond. He seemed to love it though so she went along. After all, they were on a public dance floor. How bad could it get?